frechevsfreeConfusable pair

Which to use

“freche” and “free” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#26,878
“freche” frequency rank
#3,313
“free” frequency rank
30191
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature freche free
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs frech ohne eine Bezahlung zu verlangen; nicht mit Kosten verbunden

Where the eye mixes freche and free

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
freche
4 ch
free

Visual trap between freche and free

A purely visual mix-up. freche ([ˈfʁɛçə]) and free ([fɹiː]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30191, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

freche is recorded at frequency rank #26,878, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁɛçə]. free is at rank #3,313, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɹiː].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 30191, this pair ranks #1,752,646 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of freche vs free

Shared letters: efr. Private to "freche": ch. Private to "free": -.

"freche" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "free" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • frecheferche · ffreche · frcehe · frecche · freceh · frechhe · frehce · frreche
  • freefere · ffree · fre · frree · rfee

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "freche" and "free" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʁɛçə] versus [fɹiː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "freche" or "free"?
"free" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,313 in our German list, against #26,878 for "freche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "freche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "free" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,752,646 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "freche" and "free" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "freche vs frecher". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,752,646 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list